


Delinquent superheroes

by spockside



Series: Phone tag [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Humor, Shopping, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-25
Updated: 2012-04-25
Packaged: 2017-11-04 07:57:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/391543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spockside/pseuds/spockside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fury calls Pepper for help in tracking down the Avengers, who are unaccountably unaccounted for. Pepper says truthfully that she can't help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delinquent superheroes

While Tony divided his time between New York and California, Pepper usually remained on the West Coast, taking care of business. Several days after their announcement had been made public, Pepper surprised him by calling him from the jet, en route to New York, where he was standing by for an Avengers press conference with Fury and Steve.

"Gotta take this," he muttered to Fury, who glared at him until he held up the phone so the director could see the image of the caller. Then the man just shrugged and went on talking to Steve, and Tony took a few steps away from them and tapped his earbud.

"Still there?"

"Of course," said Pepper's voice, delightfully intimate in his ear. "I just wanted to let you know that my plane's scheduled to land at JFK in half an hour. The limo's waiting - should I go to the Tower, or the house?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Tony replied, "Potts, you never cease to delight and astound. Meet me at the brownstone, and I apologize in advance for any laundry or food containers that I might have left lying around. Dolores has the week off."

The reason Dolores (the housekeeper) had the week off was so that Tony could keep weird hours, crank the music obscenely loud, and indulge other typical Tony habits like leaving cold pizza on the coffee table overnight (ready for tomorrow's breakfast).

Pepper signed off and Tony went back over to rejoin the other two, still standing by, and realized that just knowing Pepper was on her way made his head a little calmer, his nerves a little looser.

The press conference was, accordingly, a little crazier. 

........................

"Pepper Potts."

"Ms. Potts, this is Nick Fury."

"Hello, Nick, how are you doing?"

"Not well. Several of my team have gone AWOL, and I suspect they're, uh, hiding out in Mr. Stark's mansion. I need your help tracking them down."

"I'm afraid I can't do that right now. I'm in the middle of some extremely delicate negotiations, and I'm nowhere near the house."

"Can you put me in touch with Mr. Stark?"

"Oh, is he one of those missing? No, I'm sorry, I have no idea where he is."

There was a silence on the line, as though she had uttered something ludicrously improbable.

"Have you left him a message?"

"I have, Ms. Potts. Several. On several different voicemails."

"He'll turn up eventually, Nick, he always does. As for your other Avengers - well, you have better things to do than play hide and seek with a group of delinquent superheroes, I'm sure."

"Yes, I do."

Pepper could hear his teeth grinding all the way across Manhattan.

"Will that be all, Colonel Fury?"

"Yes, thank you, Ms. Potts."

Pepper's hand, which she'd been holding aloft to keep her entourage quiet, dropped to her side and the room filled with a roar of laughter.

"Delinquent superheroes!" Steve crowed. "I like the sound of that. It's been a long time since I was a delinquent."

"You are a most loyal ally," Thor commended Pepper, who stood grinning with her hands on her hips. She tossed her cell phone over to Natasha, who was drinking wine and smirking.

"How could you not have any idea where Tony is?" was her question.

"He and Clint are off on some super-secret pre-wedding mission," Pepper replied. "Now, people, listen up. I need your input on this decision. And no more wolf whistles," she added, glaring at the two men. "You're scaring the other clients."

Steve and Thor tried to look studious and failed. Natasha shrugged.

"I like the line of it," was Steve's comment.

"It would be better with a cape," said Thor.

Tasha got up and prowled in a circle, looking Pepper up and down. When she came round to the front, she said, "It's a beautiful gown. It suits you perfectly."

"But?" asked Pepper, mildly anxious.

"I don't suppose there's any place to hide a knife."

Of course there wasn't; the white satin clung to Pepper's curves in all the right places.

"You don't bring a knife to a wedding!" Steve scoffed. 

Thor opened his mouth as if to object, then shut it again, sensing a lack of support.

Pepper was smiling.

"Of course not," she purred. "The Avengers will all be there. And if Tony needs correction - well, all I need for that is my bare hands."


End file.
